Photo by Ann Geisen , Wild Lakes Specialist for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources ( DNR ) Shallow Lakes Program
North minnesota
ACTIVITIES
BY RACHEL M . ANDERSON • CONTRIBUTING WRITER AND EDITOR
A Great Summer Activity …
Wild Ricing Up North
When you ask people from out of state how much they know about Minnesota , they ’ re likely to mention the Mall of America , Prince , and the State of Hockey . What isn ’ t common knowledge , however , is the fact that Minnesota grows more natural wild rice than any other state in the country .
Wild rice is actually an annual grass that reproduces each year from seed stock deposited into the mud during the previous fall season . A Minnesota Department of Natural Resources ( DNR ) assessment has found the only cereal grain native to North America in over 2,000 lakes and rivers in 54 of the state ’ s 87 counties .
More than half of the acreage is found Up North : in Aitkin , Cass , Itasca , St . Louis and Crow Wing Counties . “ The Brainerd Lakes area is kind of the epi-center of all the wild rice in the state ,” says Melissa Barrick , District Manager , Crow Wing Soil and Water Conservation District ( SWCD ). She estimates close to 1,000 acres of wild rice grows naturally in about a dozen shallow lakes in the region .
10 destinationupnorth . com